Vaughntronic:
There can never be too much fluff! More cuteness to the people :-)

Nance:
Of course it's all about the king ;-)

Amethyst49:
Thanks! I don't know really, I think I'm going to stick with just bromance for the rest of the story… But you never know ;-)

Phanstarlight:
You're very welcome! There can never be too many stories about Gwaine/Percival ;-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from BBC to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Of fish and fealty

Fealty and fish for a fiercely proud, slightly purring feline…

In his absence, Merlin had somehow been volunteered to go down to the kitchens and bring everyone supper, and at the same time spread the word that Arthur was ill and was not to be disturbed. Gwen was a sweetheart and offered to go with him to help carry the food, and he made sure to point out to the others that he wouldn't help them punch new holes in their belts when they got fat from sitting around too much. Apparently the knights were not overly bothered by this and choose to remain by the fire and Merlin grudgingly set out with Gwen.

Gwaine and Percival had emerged from their private conversation just in time for the food to arrive and Merlin wasn't surprised, since Gwaine was involved it was probably deliberate. He was however, as was everyone else, surprised to see that Gwaine grabbed the biggest apple, not for eating himself but to give to Percival who accepted the gift with a faint blush. Arthur pretended to gag at the public display of cuteness but in doing so, unfortunately, he choked on a hairball and actually gagged for real. This brought on merciless laughter from the others and he retired to a corner for a while to try and retrieve at least some of his dignity.

When Arthur returned and saw his plate his face took on a look of pure disgust.

"Really Merlin, fish?"

"I didn't think that you wanted milk again, sire" Merlin mumbled apologetically and sent Gwaine into a fit of laughter.

"We have to think of our appearances, sire" he smirked. "Wouldn't want the royal coat of fur to get all stained and stink of sour milk."

"You are going to regret this so much when I'm back to normal and in charge of the training sessions again" Arthur threatened and Merlin dutifully translated what he'd just said to the knight, who didn't look too worried.

"Training sessions in what exactly, scratching and biting?" he grinned.

"Oh, I don't know, I bet he'd be really good at polishing swords as well" Elyan snickered wickedly. "All that soft fur…"

"Silence!" Leon roared and everyone fell quiet. "This is our king" he reminded them all and Elyan at least had the decency to look apologetic, as did Percival who hadn't participated at all. Gwaine however was still grinning widely and Gwen stood with a hand over her moth, unable to stop giggling.

"He still deserves our respect" Leon continued, "despite his current… eh condition." How he could say that and still keep a straight face was beyond everyone and they burst out laughing again at the statement. Arthur had, with rising agony, looked from person to person only to find them all, except Leon, laughing at him and he couldn't stand it anymore. He was out the door and gone like lightning before anyone had the time to react.

A deafening chatter broke loose as everyone started arguing about whose fault it was that Arthur had left and who should go find him and apologize. Merlin decided not to get involved and slipped quietly out of the room. He had an idea where he might find the king. There was a rarely used room in the west tower where Arthur liked to go if he wanted to be alone and think. The door was slightly ajar and Merlin pushed it open. Arthur was sitting on the windowsill with his back turned to the room.

"Arthur?" Merlin said hesitantly. He made no move to turn and acknowledge his servant but his tail flicked back and forth a couple of times and Merlin took that as permission to enter.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed." He hesitantly stepped closer. "We're all sorry and we didn't mean to make fun of you." He sat down on the windowsill beside the cat.

"Yeah well" Arthur answered glumly, "I guess I am a bit of a joke right now, am I not?" He looked so defeated where he sat, whiskers drooping and head hanging low, that Merlin's heart ached and without thinking he reached out his hand and started stroking soothingly down Arthur's back.

"Oh, sorry" Merlin whipped his hand back as if burned when he realized what he was doing.

"No, it's all right" Arthur muttered. Merlin looked at him unbelievingly and Arthur shrugged, too depressed to be embarrassed it seemed. "Might as well get used to it I guess, if this is how I'm going to be from now on."

"Don't say that, we'll figure something out" Merlin tried to reassure him but he started stroking the soft fur again and Arthur leaned into his touch and started purring after a while. Merlin found it strange at first but then he told himself that it was essentially the same thing as giving Arthur a back massage when his muscles ached from training. Sort of. They sat in silence for a while.

"Why couldn't I have been turned into a lion, or a bear or a dragon?" Arthur then asked. "I am a king, I'm supposed to be impressive, powerful, to inspire loyalty. I can't be cute." He spat out the last word. "How am I to ensure the respect of my men if I can't lead them in battle?" Merlin didn't know what to say and just sat quietly.

"A cat will never be respected as a king" Arthur continued miserably. "If Camelot is attacked because of me, because our enemies find out what I am, I would never forgive myself. But how could I even name a successor when I can't talk to anyone else than you?"

"Don't say that!" Merlin "There won't be any need to, we'll find a way."

"So you keep saying, but so far we haven't made much progress, have we?" Merlin couldn't deny this but he still refused to give up.

"Gaius is coming back and he can help me translate some of the text we found, maybe he's heard of this before or maybe he knows someone."

"That a whole lots of maybes" Arthur pointed out.

"And even if you stay like this we could make it work" Merlin continued as if he hadn't heard, "only the closest knights would need to know and…"

"But they don't respect me either, you saw them laughing just now" Arthur interrupted.

"Leon didn't laugh." Merlin tried to be optimistic.

"That because he's Leon" Arthur pointed out.

"Yeah, well…" Merlin couldn't really argue against that.

"Gwaine nearly rolled on the floor, and Elyan and Percival wasn't much better" Arthur continued.

"They're only a bit surprised, if you only give them some time they'll get used to it. And as for Gwaine, well, he's Gwaine." Merlin shrugged his shoulders and Arthur couldn't really argue against that. Gwaine was indeed Gwaine, with flaws as well as strengths.

"We all stand by you, sire" Merlin added solemnly, "no matter what." Arthur nodded gratefully.

"I know."

"Why don't we go back, sire?" Merlin suggested. "Then everyone can crawl for you and beg for your forgiveness, say how sorry they are for treating you like that..."

"The idea does hold a certain appeal" Arthur mused, feeling a lot more cheered up than he'd thought was possible given the current situation. "Let's go." He clambered into Merlin's arms and perched his head on his shoulder.

"You might as well carry me" he said in response to Merlin's unspoken question. "I almost got caught by those serving maids again."

"As you wish, sire. But if we're going to continue like this you might want to shed a pound or two."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"No sire, just a little… well padded" Merlin smiled and rubbed Arthur's belly. "And don't you try to scratch me, I might accidentally drop you" he added warningly.

"Don't you know that a cat always lands on its feet, Merlin?" But soon Arthur found out that, sadly, this was apparently not the case for humans trapped in a cat's body because he landed on his butt with a loud "Ow!"

"Not always it would seem, sire" Merlin smirked.

"I could have you hanged for treason you know…" Arthur grumbled, trying to decide what took the worst hit, his butt or his pride.